Teen critically injured when he stands up as tour bus enters 405 underpass in El Segundo

EL SEGUNDO — A 16-year old boy was hospitalized Saturday with critical injuries sustained when he stood up on the top deck of a double-decker tour bus as it was about to pass under an overpass in El Segundo, authorities said.

Gage Stroman of Manhattan Beach said he was among a group of people who carried the boy to the bottom deck, where he was treated by paramedics and taken to a nearby hospital.

Stroman, 17, challenged reports that emergency personnel found the injured youth lying on the shoulder of the San Diego Freeway north of El Segundo Boulevard — near where the accident happened at about 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

“That makes it sound like he was knocked off the bus onto the 405,” Stroman said. “That’s not what happened. We took him downstairs on the bus and that’s where he stayed until help arrived.”

Stroman said he and the injured teen where among a group of South Bay students celebrating another passenger’s birthday. He said he was near the boy when the accident occurred, but didn’t see what happened.

“I heard a scream and looked up and he was down,” Stroman said. “We all ran over to him.”

KNBC Channel 4 reported that the Starline Tours bus was traveling about 45 mph when the youth stood and was struck by the Arbor Vitae Street overpass.